Environments through Time

Course manual 2019/2020

Course content

Global environments have been extensively transformed over the last decades, and are projected to change at an accelerated rate over the coming centuries. Human-induced and natural forcing mechanisms, such as land-cover change, climate change, and population growth are the primary drivers of current environmental change. However, to understand if the observed, and projected, environmental changes are outside the normal variation of the Earths system functioning, in terms of magnitude and speed, we require a longer-term context. Landscape, societies and climates evolve over timescales of decades to millennia, and on spatial scales of tens to thousands of kilometers. To obtain insight into how environments have changed beyond the documentary record, we must turn to the fossil record for information. Indicators of past environmental change allow us to reconstruct many aspects of past environments, such as climates, vegetation, and human history, but to make these directly comparable with observed and projected changes a clear understanding of timescales is required. In this course we will consider how information on time can be obtained from the fossil record (dating methods), apply the different methods for reconstructing chronologies, and explore patterns of environmental change through time.

In the course we focus on the importance of timescales for environmental change using a systems science approach to think about function and interactions.

Objectives

• explain the importance of spatial and temporal scale in understanding environmental change.
• summarize how extraterrestrial, Earth system, and human factors drive environmental change.
• locate relevant data sets to explore past environmental change.
• analyze past environmental change data sets in multiple ways to identify uncertainty.
• evaluate data analysis outputs, and defend their scientific evaluation.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Laptop seminar
• Presentation/symposium
• Self-study
• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
• Supervision/feedback meeting

Lectures will provide a basic grounding to key principles and themes in past environmental change research.
Tutorials will provide an opportunity to discuss literature on past environmental change and give a greater insight into specific areas.
Laptop seminars will provide training in data handeling, specifically age vs. depth modelling and time-series analysis.
Presentations will provide an opportunity for students to present their own investigations to the class, and to learn from other students work.

Learning activities

Attendance

The programme does not have requirements concerning attendance (OER-B).

Additional requirements for this course:

There is no mandatory attendance; however, students are strongly advised to attend all components of the course.

Assessment

Students must obtain a grade of at least 4 out of 10 for each of the assessed components of the course, namely:

1. Written assignment (25% final grade)
2. Presentation (25% final grade)
3. Written examination (50% final grade)

Assignments

Written assignment (individual)

• Chronology assessment (25% final grade)

Presentation (individual)

• Time series assessment (25% final grade)

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. W.D. Gosling

• William Gosling (w.d.gosling@uva.nl)  
• Crystal McMichael (c.n.h.mcmichael@uva.nl)
• Britte Heijink 
• Yoshi Maezumi
• Macro Raczka
• Inga van Haaften

Staff

• Britte Heijink BSc
• dr. S.Y. Maezumi
• dr. C.N.H. McMichael
• M.F. Raczka